The rectors of the Hemispheric University Consortium (HUC), an alliance that brings together 14 leading higher education institutions in Latin America, including the Universidad Austral Representatives from Argentina met last Tuesday in a general assembly held via teleconference. During the meeting, they discussed the achievements of the various working groups and made progress in developing a strategic framework for the consortium.
At the assembly, the president of HUC and rector of the Catholic University of Chile, Ignacio Sánchez, highlighted the significant progress of the various working groups. “We have witnessed the significant progress of the different working groups. Furthermore, we were honored by the outstanding presentation from the group of research leaders, which we consider fundamental for the future of this alliance comprised of 14 universities in the Americas,” he stated.
For his part, Julián Rodríguez, vice president of HUC and rector of the Universidad Austral From Argentina, he emphasized the importance of defining a strategic plan for the coming years. “We hope to move forward in defining the strategic plan that will give us direction for the coming years. The HUC has demonstrated a great capacity to generate joint actions among the universities in the network. Now we must work on the details of the strategic plan to better guide the actions that have been carried out, consolidating the HUC as a group of universities that aspire to teaching and research of the highest possible quality,” Rodríguez stated.
During the meeting, the contributions of the "Research Leaders Group," created to strengthen and promote research in areas such as public health, climate change, sustainability, and technological innovation, were also reviewed. Pedro Bouchon, Vice-Rector of Research at the Catholic University of Chile, presented the progress of HUC's virtual research internship program, which has allowed students to collaborate on projects led by academics from different institutions within the consortium. This program has grown steadily, increasing from 36 students in 2021 to 52 in 2023, with more than 250 applications received this year.
Another highlight was the presentation of the “Human-Centered Global Learning and Engagement Experiences” (HUC GLEE), led by Helen Balderama of York University and Maribel Flórez of the Catholic University of Chile. This program has engaged nearly 8 students and focuses on online collaborative learning and the development of indicators to evaluate the performance and quality of initiatives.
Evelyn Didier, Director of Libraries at the Catholic University of Chile, presented the progress of the “Library Network” group, which works on the exchange of information and resources and the use of digital tools to support education, research, and innovation. Camilo Villa, Head of Cooperation and Research Networks at the University of the Andes in Colombia, reported on the virtual internship program, which has completed 126 internships and has been extended to master's and doctoral students, gaining international recognition for its innovative format for virtual mobility.
The next HUC general assembly will be held in October of this year at the San Francisco de Quito University (USFQ) in Ecuador. Andrea Encalada, Vice-Rector of USFQ, expressed her enthusiasm for the progress made and her expectations for the meeting in Quito, highlighting the consortium's potential to empower all member universities.
The institutions that are part of the HUC are Universidad Austral (Argentina), Campinas State University (Brazil), York University (Canada), The University of the West Indies (the Caribbean), Andres Bello University (Chile), Catholic University of Chile (Chile), Universidad de los Andes (Colombia), Costa Rica university (Costa Rica), Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (Dominican Republic), San Francisco University of Quito (Ecuador), Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico), University of the Americas Puebla (Mexico), Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (Peru) and University of Miami (USA).
